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A review by ssn8
Books of Blood, Vol. 1 by Clive Barker
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
4.5
The Book of Blood: not the most interesting story but it was really well written and I love that these stories have an intro/framing device. Makes it feel more like an old school horror movie anthology, which I love!!!
The Midnight Meat Train: REALLY good. The creeping sense of dread, the fact that you know something’s going to happen and then what happens if so much worse than you could expect, the ending. Woof. Good stuff.
The Yattering and Jack: this was so fun. I love the kind of silly, slapstick feel in the beginning, and then the reveal that Jack knows exactly what is going on and is fighting his own fight makes the rest so so fun to read.
Pig Blood Blues: weird. I don’t really get what it all meant but I liked the idea of a messed up juvenile detention facility and a pig cult.
Sex, Death and Starshine: kind of beautiful. Life for art, and all that. The image of playing to a crowd of adoring corpses is great, and the ending has a nice bittersweet quality; kind of spooky but also kind of beautiful.
In the Hills, the Cities: this story was a little slower for me than the others, but the ending was great. I love the idea of a cosmic, lovecraftian horror that is made up entirely of humans.
Overall: while not every story was a perfect hit for me, this is a really strong collection and every story has something interesting going on, which is a true feat for an anthology series.
The Midnight Meat Train: REALLY good. The creeping sense of dread, the fact that you know something’s going to happen and then what happens if so much worse than you could expect, the ending. Woof. Good stuff.
The Yattering and Jack: this was so fun. I love the kind of silly, slapstick feel in the beginning, and then the reveal that Jack knows exactly what is going on and is fighting his own fight makes the rest so so fun to read.
Pig Blood Blues: weird. I don’t really get what it all meant but I liked the idea of a messed up juvenile detention facility and a pig cult.
Sex, Death and Starshine: kind of beautiful. Life for art, and all that. The image of playing to a crowd of adoring corpses is great, and the ending has a nice bittersweet quality; kind of spooky but also kind of beautiful.
In the Hills, the Cities: this story was a little slower for me than the others, but the ending was great. I love the idea of a cosmic, lovecraftian horror that is made up entirely of humans.
Overall: while not every story was a perfect hit for me, this is a really strong collection and every story has something interesting going on, which is a true feat for an anthology series.